Vegan

Also known as the best chocolate mousse I’ve ever made. Super fluffy, smooth and delicious. It’s SO easy to make and no one will ever suspect that you made mousse from chickpea brine. It’s funny how I now have two open packages of chickpeas in the fridge after making this mousse a couple of times (I’ll make hummus, win win!). Every time I open a package of chickpeas or beans from now on, I’ll be making this chocolate mousse instead of getting rid of the brine. It’s a good excuse, and nothing goes to waste!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Serves 4

Some notes about this recipe: It’s absolutely crucial that both the melted chocolate and aquafaba is at room temperature, or the chocolate might seize when mixing the two together. If you don’t have chickpea brine, any other bean brine should work – just make sure it’s unsalted. As for the coconut cream, I used a brand named Garant, which is so smooth you can basically whip it straight from the can. You can also use a can of coconut milk which has been in the fridge overnight. Scoop out the firm part and beat until fluffy and smooth.

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large clean bowl, combine aquafaba and lemon juice and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and keep beating until stiff peaks form.

Add 1/4 of the whipped aquafaba to the chocolate and stir gently with a spatula until almost combined. Add the rest of the aquafaba in three more batches, stirring gently to not deflate the mixture.

Add flavorings if desired, then spoon into ramekins or serving glasses. Place the ramekins in the fridge until mousse is set (which only took 5 minutes for me but it might take a little longer than that).

Fall is by far, my favorite season. Maybe not always weather-wise (I live in Sweden you guys), but definitely inspiration-wise. It feels like starting over somehow, and I get so many new ideas that I often don’t even know where to begin. One of the many things I enjoy most about fall are all the beautiful, colorful leaves. I become obsessed with finding the most beautiful ones and preserving them between pages in old books. I keep some books solely for this purpose. And I enjoy the baking too, of course. All the beautiful apples and pumpkins and all my favorite spices. Long walks in the forest and lots of chai tea and hot chocolate. I could go on.

This pie has been lingering in my mind for a while. Actually since the first time I tried making vegan meringue which was.. almost a year and a half ago now. I find it absolutely fascinating that chickpea brine (which is sort of gross) can turn into a beautiful, luscious meringue. Mind blown! Now I’m curious to know, have you ever tried making or eating vegan meringue?

VEGAN CHOCOLATE MERINGUE PIE

Yields one pie, 8-10 servings

INGREDIENTS

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

225 g dairy-free graham crackers (such as digestive)

5-6 tbsp. coconut oil, melted

CHOCOLATE FILLING

200 g dairy-free dark chocolate (70%), chopped

300 ml (1 1/4 cups) coconut cream

1-2 tbsp. maple syrup, can be omitted

finely grated zest from 1/2 orange

pinch of salt

MERINGUE TOPPING

150 ml (2/3 cup) unsalted aquafaba/chickpea brine

3/4 tsp. lemon juice

115 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla bean powder

finely grated zest from 1/2 orange

INSTRUCTIONS

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).

Add graham crackers to a food processor or blender and mix into a fine meal. Add melted coconut oil and pulse to combine.

Press mixture into a pie pan, then bake for 9-11 minutes until nicely browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE FILLING

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.

Combine coconut cream, maple syrup (if desired), orange zest and salt in a saucepan and place it over medium high heat until mixture is very hot but not boiling.

Pour the mixture over the chocolate – make sure all the chocolate is covered, if not, press the bits of chocolate down with a spoon. Let stand for 30 seconds, then stir with a spoon until chocolate is melted and ganache is completely smooth. Make sure to stir carefully, or you’ll get lots of air bubbles in your ganache. Let cool to room temperature.

Pour the chocolate filling into the prepared crust, then place it in the fridge until chocolate is set.

MERINGUE TOPPING

Pour the liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas into a bowl, add lemon juice and beat with an electric hand- or stand mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add vanilla and orange zest and beat until just combined.

Spread meringue topping over chocolate filling and brown the meringue with a kitchen torch. This pie is best eaten the day it’s made.

NOTES: The coconut cream I’m using for this recipe is 80% coconut and 20% water with a 22% fat content. Full fat coconut milk might also work, but I haven’t tried it myself. I used 3/4 of a can as one can contains 400 ml. For the aquafaba/chickpea brine, make sure to use a brand that has no salt added. I used the brine from one 380 g can of chickpeas.

These roses remind me of how I used to make “perfume” for my mother as a child. I picked rose petals and mixed them with
sand and water in my little plastic bucket (the sand had the function of a pestle and mortar). Come to think of it, she never used it. How
ungrateful. However, this ice cream is nothing like that perfume. I stepped up
my game since then. Promise.

We are eating more and more vegan at home. Except for cheese. I love cheese.

This ice cream though, never in my life did I expect it to be so creamy and delicious with so few ingredients. I’ve had some bad experiences with rose flavored things in the past, which I usually find way too “soapy” for my taste. This ice cream has a lovely floral note and the rose flavor is not overwhelming. If you want more rose flavor, you can always add more petals to your liking or even a little rose water. Of course, you also have to be very into coconut to like this ice cream. Don’t miss out on the cardamom crumble topping, which adds a lovely crunch.

When using fresh roses for baking or cooking, absolutely make sure they are unsprayed! The ones you buy at the florists are usually sprayed and shipped a long way. If possible, pick from your own garden or in an area where it’s ok to pick flowers. You can also buy already dried rose petals, just make sure they are for culinary uses. When choosing roses, the darker shade you go for, the more pronounced flavor.

-Make sure to use unsprayed roses! If you buy dried rose petals, make sure they are for culinary uses.-Drying rose petals in the microwave is a very, very quick way to do it. You can do it in the oven too on a low temperature, but it will take longer.

DirectionsDried rose petals
1. Pull the rose petals off the stem and place them in a single layer on a paper towel lined plate.
2. Microwave on high for 60 seconds. The petals will likely still have some moisture in them so what you need to do is to microwave an additional 30-60 seconds, or until the petals are completely dry and crispy. Beware when removing the plate from the microwave as the plate will be very hot!
3. Spread petals on a cookie sheet and let them airdry for 6 hours if needed (I used mine right away, too impatient). Store in an airtight jar.

Ice cream
1. Place coconut milk, salt, vanilla bean+seeds, sugar and rose petals in a sauce pan. Heat until mixture is hot but not boiling. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and put a lid on the pan. Let mixture steep for 30 minutes.
2. Strain through a fine wire sieve into a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cool.
3. Using an ice cream machine, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s
instructions. Once the ice cream reaches soft serve consistency, transfer to a freeze proof container, sprinkle some extra dried rose petals on top and freeze until
firm enough to scoop, approximately 2-4 hours. If the ice cream feels hard after some time in the freezer, remove it from the freezer 15 minutes prior to serving.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a freeze proof container and put in the freezer. When partially frozen (after a couple of hours), take
it out and whip it with an electric mixer to break up the ice crystals. Repeat 3-4 of times during the freezing process. Freeze until firm enough to scoop. It won’t be exactly the same as when you use a machine for churning but it’ll still be delicious!

Can I just say how impressed I am by this cake?
I had a whole bunch of leftovers from the last “raw” cake I made so I took the opportunity to make a chocolatey version too, cause you know, you gotta have chocolate. I pretty much improvised so there are all kinds of good stuff in this one. It tastes a bit like coconut, a bit like peanut butter, banana, and chocolate of course. And just the right amount of espresso. That might sound like a lot of stuff, but to me, it’s perfection.
And let’s talk about the texture. This cake is so creamy and smooth, like a mousse cake. I would never in a million years guess that a piece of this cake is actually pretty good for you. Almost too good to be true, right?!

If you compare this cake to the last one I made, this one is definitely more like a mousse cake while the other one is a bit more like ice cream.I love them both and I’m sure I will make them again and again.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Soak the dates in warm water for 15 minutes then drain. Put almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the dates, coconut, cocoa powder, salt and pulse until a paste forms. Add espresso as needed and pulse until paste is smooth.
2. Press mixture into a 6 or 7 inch springform pan with the bottom covered with plastic wrap (if you don’t have a springform pan, use a pie tin or a regular cake pan covered with parchment paper). Put the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
3. Put coconut oil, coconut milk, cocoa powder, maple syrup, peanut butter and coffee in a sauce pan and heat very gently until mixture is quite loose and all ingredients have melted (this step is to make the filling a bit looser – or it will be too thick to mix smooth in the food processor/blender).
4. Pour the ingredients from the sauce pan plus the cashews and the banana into a blender or food processor and mix until mixture is as smooth as possible. Pour the filling into the crust, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2-4 hours or until filling is set.

After the mixture was set, I actually stored the cake in the fridge instead and it held up fine! It was more like a mousse cake. Delicious! So if you know you will eat the cake within a day or two – store it in the fridge, if you want to save it longer store it in the freezer.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Powder some extra cocoa powder on top of the cake.
Drizzle sauce over cake and top with chopped pistachios and shredded coconut if desired.

*If you’re in a hurry you can let the cashews soak in very hot water for 1 hour instead of overnight

I’m a little bit too excited about this post.
I received the most beautiful bed linen from Evencki the other day. This lovely plum color makes my knees weak and it was just begging to be photographed with a pretty cake. My inspiration has been low lately and this was exactly what I needed. This, and the beautiful spring weather we’re having (our thermometer says 12°C today!).

My friend Lua experimented with a raw and vegan cheesecake the other day and she told me all about it when we met over the weekend. So I had to give it a try, too. And I must say I’m very impressed with the outcome. Incredibly creamy, sweet, tangy, rich and just perfect.

I know, this blog is usually all about the sugar and the flour, and it has been for the past.. 5 1/2 years now.
Maybe you’re thinking I’ve stopped eating sugar, flour, eggs and dairy. I haven’t, though I really enjoy trying something different every now and then. It’s a great way to find some new inspiration, because sometimes you just get stuck in your ways. It’s like when I’m trying to think of something to eat for dinner. We have like 5 dishes that we eat over and over again and I can’t imagine that there are other dishes in the world except for these 5. I’m like.. “uhmmm, maybe pasta, rice… or potatoes”. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Oh, and this cake totally looks huge in the photos but in reality, it isn’t. It’s only 12 cm, so it’s tiny and cute.

NO BAKE BLUEBERRY LEMON VEGAN CHEESECAKEThis cheesecake is completely gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free Makes 1 tiny cheesecake (12 cm/5 inches) but you can of course double the recipe ro make a bigger one!

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Soak the dates in warm water for 15 minutes then drain. Put almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the dates and salt and pulse until a paste forms.
2. Press mixture into a 5-inch springform pan (if you don’t have a springform pan, use a pie tin or a regular cake pan covered with parchment paper). Put the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
3. Put all ingredients for the filling in a blender and mix until mixture is as smooth as possible. Pour the filling into the crust, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours.
4. Remove the cake from the pan and leave to thaw in room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before cutting. Top with freeze dried blueberry powder, fresh blueberries, shredded coconut and edible flowers. I usually run my knife under warm water (and dry off) before cutting, to make a cleaner cut. Let each piece thaw for a few more minutes before serving.

*If you’re in a hurry you can let the cashews soak in very hot water for 1 hour instead of overnight